System and method for limiting energy in an industrial control system

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for limiting heating to prevent explosions in a gaseous environment containing an industrial control system are described. A method may include controlling heating in an electrical circuit component in response to a circuit failure so as to avoid reaching a temperature at or above a flash point of a gaseous component of the gaseous environment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/141,920, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LIMITINGENERGY IN AN INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEM, filed Jun. 1, 2005, which claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/578,808, filedJun. 10, 2004, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LIMITING ENERGY IN ANINDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEM. The content of all of these application ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for allpurposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to control and monitoringsystems, and more specifically to industrial process control andmonitoring systems.

BACKGROUND

Modern industrial systems and processes tend to be technically complex,involve substantial energies and monetary interests, and have thepotential to inflict serious harm to persons or property during anaccident. Although absolute protection may not be possible to achieve,risk can be reduced to an acceptable level using various methods toincrease an industrial system's safety and reliability and mitigate harmif an event, e.g., a failure, does occur.

Integral with industrial systems are process and safety control systems,which typically include programmable controllers (e.g., programmablelogic controllers (PLCs)) and a collection of sensors and actuators fordetecting and reacting to events, respectively. Typically, sensors(e.g., temperature, pressure and flow transducers) are coupled to aprogrammable controller via signal lines that may be hundreds of feet inlength. As a consequence, the potential exists for these signal lines tobe inadvertently severed or short circuited during an event (e.g., anaccidental collision).

During an event arising in the context of hazardous gas atmospheres(e.g., flammable gas atmospheres), electrical and/or thermal energyreleased from the signal lines, field devices (e.g., sensors) and/or theprogrammable controller circuitry may create a spark or generatesufficient temperatures to cause the gas atmosphere to ignite.Recognizing these potential hazards, regulations in the United Statesand Europe mandate that current, voltage and temperature be limited inelectronic circuits including programmable controllers that areoperating in the presence of the hazardous atmosphere.

Consistent with existing, standardized methodology, power ballastresistors are often employed to limit the amount of current drawn bysignal lines. Power ballast resisters, however, are often expensive, andare typically bulky and heavy because they are intended to limittemperatures by absorbing heat with a substantial amount of thermallyconductive mass and dissipating the heat with a substantial amount ofsurface area.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention that are shown in thedrawings are summarized below. These and other embodiments are morefully described in the Detailed Description section. It is to beunderstood, however, that there is no intention to limit the inventionto the forms described in this Summary of the Invention or in theDetailed Description. One skilled in the art can recognize that thereare numerous modifications, equivalents and alternative constructionsthat fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed inthe claims.

In one aspect, the present invention relates to a method for controllingheating in an industrial process controller disposed for operation in anexplosive environment, comprising: providing, in the industrial processcontroller, an electrical circuit having a plurality of components,where a first of the plurality of components is selected based at leastin part on a characteristic of the first of the plurality of componentsrelated to a flash point of a gaseous component of the explosiveenvironment in which the process controller is designed to operate in;and adjusting, in response to a temperature increase in said one of theplurality of components during operation of the industrial processcontroller, a characteristic of the one of the plurality of electricalcomponents so as to limit a peak temperature increase of the electricalcircuit to a value below the flash point of the gaseous component.

In another aspect, the invention relates to an apparatus for use in anindustrial process controller disposed for operation in an explosiveenvironment containing one or more gaseous components, comprising: anelectronic circuit configured for providing a current signal to anindustrial process controller so at to facilitate measurement of aprocess control parameter; and means for adjusting heating in acomponent of the electronic circuit so as to limit a temperate rise peakto a temperature value below a lowest flash point of any gaseouscomponent of the one or more gaseous components.

In another aspect, the present invention relates to an energy-limitingmodule for an industrial controller, comprising: first and second signallines disposed to provide a voltage to a field transducer, the fieldtransducer being associated with a process parameter; atemperature-dependent limiter coupled between a supply voltage and thefirst signal line, the temperature-dependent limiter being configured tolimit thermal energy in the module to a temperature below the flashtemperature of any gaseous component of an operating environment theindustrial controller is configured to operate in, in the event of afault; a voltage limiter coupled to the first signal line so as to limitthe voltage provided to the field transducer; and a current to voltagetranslator coupled to the second signal line, wherein the current tovoltage translator is configured with a resistor coupled between thefield transducer and a V-reference terminal so as to generate an outputvoltage signal proportional to a field current provided from the fieldtransducer.

Additional aspects of the present invention are further described belowwith respect to the appended drawings. As previously stated, theabove-described embodiments and implementations are for illustrationpurposes only. Numerous other embodiments, implementations, and detailsof the invention are easily recognized by those of skill in the art fromthe following descriptions and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will bemore apparent from the following more particular description thereof,presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a is a block diagram of an exemplary industrial system inwhich an energy-limiting system according to one embodiment of thepresent invention is implemented;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of theenergy-limiting portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of theenergy-limiting module of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 depicts a schematic diagram of one embodiment of theenergy-limiting module of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating steps carried out by theenergy-limiting modules of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 according to severalembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to an energy-limitingsystem, which limits both the electrical and thermal energy released bya programmable controller, signal lines and field devices in anindustrial control application. Specifically, the present inventionaccording to several embodiments employs a combination of voltage,current and temperature control techniques to limit electrical andthermal energy and thereby mitigate risks associated with operating aprogrammable controller in a flammable gas atmosphere.

Unlike current approaches, which use large, expensive power ballastresistors which are difficult to thermally regulate, several embodimentsof the present invention utilize a current limiting technique, whichsimultaneously limits thermal energy in a well controlled manner withoutpassive or active heat exchange. In addition, voltage control techniquesare utilized in conjunction with the current and thermal regulation tomitigate the potential for both overheating and sparks, which may causea flammable atmosphere to ignite.

Referring first to FIG. 1 shown is a block diagram of an exemplaryindustrial system 100 in which an energy-limiting system according to anembodiment of the present invention is implemented. As shown, the system100 includes a programmable controller 102 within a flammable gasatmosphere that is in communication, via a collection of signal lines104, with field devices 106 (e.g., actuators and sensors). The signallines 104 are coupled to the programmable controller 102 via anenergy-limiting portion 108 of a termination panel 110. As shown, theenergy-limiting portion 108 also provides output signals 112 that areutilized by the programmable controller 102 to control one or moreaspects of the system 100.

The programmable controller 102 may be realized using any one of avariety of devices that have input/output (I/O) functionality andprocessing capability (not shown). The programmable controller 102 maybe, for example and without limitation, a safety controller, aprogrammable logic controller (PLC), a general purpose computer, orpotentially any other device that includes a processor, memory andinput/output capability.

Although the programmable controller 102 is depicted in FIG. 1 as aseparate unit from the field devices 106, it is contemplated that eachfield device may be integrated with a programmable controller so as torealize separate intelligent field devices with the energy limitingfunctionality described herein.

In the present embodiment, the energy-limiting portion 108 of thetermination panel 110 limits energy to the signal lines 104, the fielddevices 106 and a portion of the programmable controller 102 so as toreduce the likelihood of a spark or over temperature condition occurringwhen there are faults in the field devices 106 and/or signal lines 104.

Referring next to FIG. 2, shown is a block diagram of an exemplaryembodiment of the energy-limiting portion of FIG. 1. As shown, theenergy-limiting portion 200 in the present embodiment includes Nenergy-limiting modules 202 _(1-N), which are coupled to a supplyvoltage 204. In addition, each of the N energy-limiting modules 202_(1-N) is shown coupled, via a corresponding pair of signal lines 206_(1-N), to a corresponding one of N field devices 208 _(1-N), and eachenergy-limiting module provides one of N output signals 210 _(1-N) shownextending from the energy-limiting portion 200.

In the exemplary embodiment, each of the energy-limiting modules 202_(1-N) has two signal lines 206 _(1-N), (a supply line 206 _(1-N) and areturn line 214 _(1-N)), which set up a voltage across each respectivefield device 208 _(1-N), and in response, each field device 208 _(1-N)generates a field current indicative of a field parameter (e.g.,environmental or process condition) that each field device ismonitoring. For example, the field devices 208 _(1-N) may betemperature, pressure or flow transducers that generate respective fieldcurrents that are proportional to monitored temperature, pressure andflow rates.

In operation, each energy-limiting module 202 _(1-N) receives the supplyvoltage 204 and implements voltage, current and thermal limitingtechniques to limit the amount of energy released in the flammable gasenvironment in the event of one or more faults among the signal lines206 _(1-N) and/or field devices 208 _(1-N) of the industrial system 100.In this way, a potentially unlimited amount of energy from the supplyvoltage 204 is electrically and thermally limited.

For example, the voltage to the field devices 208 _(1-N) is limited toreduce the likelihood that a spark ignition-level energy will begenerated if a signal line 206 _(1-N) brushes against a conductiveelement (e.g., a ladder or a portion of a misguided fork lift). Inaddition, current to the field devices 208 _(1-N) is limited so that ifthe supply signal line 212 _(1-N) experiences a ground fault or there isa short circuit between the signal lines 206 _(1-N), dangerous levels ofheat energy are not generated in the flammable atmosphere. Moreover,each energy-limiting module 202 _(1-N) in the exemplary embodimentincludes thermal limiting capability so as to prevent the terminal panel110 itself from reaching a flash point level.

Referring next to FIG. 3, shown is an energy limiting module 300, whichis an exemplary embodiment of one or more of the energy-limiting modules202 _(1-N) described with reference to FIG. 2. As shown, a temperaturecontrolled current limiter 302 of the energy-limiting module 300receives a supply voltage 304 from a voltage source 306. The temperaturecontrolled current limiter 302 is coupled to a voltage controller 308,which is coupled via a supply signal line 310 to a field device 312. Asurge protection portion 314 of the energy-limiting module 300 is alsocoupled to the field device 312 via a return signal line 316, and anoutput of the surge protector 314 is provide to a current to voltagetranslator 318.

In operation, the energy-limiting module 300 receives the supply voltage304 from the voltage source 306, and the temperature controlled currentlimiter 302 functions to limit the amount of current drawn from thevoltage source 306 while simultaneously limiting the amount of thermalenergy dissipated. The voltage controller 308 operates to provide alimited voltage via the supply line 310 to the field device 312 so as toreduce the likelihood that any sparks generated during an event willhave sufficient energy to ignite the surrounding flammable atmosphere.

As shown, when the limited voltage is applied to the field device 312,the field device 312 generates a field current 316 that is returned tothe surge protection portion 314, which protects the current to voltagetranslator 318 from power surges. The current to voltage translator 318then converts the field current to an output voltage 320, which isprovided to the programmable controller 102.

Referring next to FIG. 4, shown is a schematic view of an energylimiting module 400, which is one embodiment of the energy-limitingmodule 300 of FIG. 3. As shown, in the present embodiment theenergy-limiting module 400 includes two inputs (i.e., V1 and V2), whichare disposed to receive a supply voltage 402 _(1-N) from respectiveredundant voltage sources 404 _(1-N) and provide the supply voltage 402_(1-N) to a temperature controlled current limiter, which in the presentembodiment includes a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) resistor406.

Under normal operating conditions, the PTC resistor 406 operates at 250ohms with a current that varies between 0 to 20 mA depending upon theparameter monitored by the field device (e.g., field devices 208_(1-N)). In the event the supply signal 408 is shorted to either thereturn signal line 416 or ground, the current through the PTC resistor406 will quickly rise due to its relatively low resistance.

As a consequence, the amount of thermal energy dissipated by the PTCresistor 406 will quickly increase until the temperature of the PTCresistor 406 reaches 120° C. Once the temperature of the PTC resistorreaches 120° C., the resistance of the PTC resistor 406 rapidlyincreases in response to any further increases in temperature over 120°C. In turn, the rapid increase in resistance limits the current flowingthrough the PTC resistor 406 so as to prevent a further increase in thetemperature of the PTC resistor 406. In this way, the PTC resistor 406limits current to the signal lines 206 _(1-N), 310, 316, 408, 416 andfield devices 208 _(1-N), 312, 410 while simultaneously limiting theamount of thermal energy generated in the energy-limiting module.

It should be recognized that PTC resistors with various operatingcharacteristics may be implemented in accordance with the particularoperating environment. For example, a PTC resistor may be implementedthat increases resistance at a temperature lower than 120° C. if theenergy-limiting module 400 is employed in a gaseous environment having arelatively low flash point.

As shown, the voltage controller 308 in the present embodiment isrealized by a 28V zenor diode 412, which limits the field voltage to 28volts in the event a user applies a supply voltage 402 that is greaterthan 28 volts. It should be recognized that the 28 volt field voltage ismerely exemplary and that other voltages may be utilized depending uponthe field devices and the particular type of atmosphere in which theenergy-limiting module 400 is employed.

As shown, the current to voltage translator in the present embodiment isrealized by a 250 ohm resistor 414, and a 5.6 volt zenor diode 416 isemployed as the surge protector to prevent damage to the resistor 414 inthe event of a fault.

Although the energy-limiting module 400 depicted in FIG. 4 is shown asan analog module, it should be recognized that several embodiments ofthe present invention extend to digital applications as well. Forexample, to provide a digital output to a programmable controller (e.g.,the programmable controller 102), the resistance R2 of the current tovoltage translator 414 may be changed (e.g., to 2K ohms). In such anembodiment, the surge protection portion 416 is less important and D2may be removed from the embodiment shown in FIG. 4.

Referring next to FIG. 5, shown is a flow chart depicting steps carriedout by the energy-limiting modules of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown, theenergy-limiting module 202, 300, 400 initially receives a supply voltage204, 304, 402 (Step 502), and limits the supply voltage 204, 304, 402 soas to generate a limited voltage 212, 310, 408 (Step 504), which isprovided to a field device 208, 312, 410 (Step 506).

In response, the field device 208, 312, 410 draws a field current (e.g.,in proportion to a monitored parameter), which is then received by theenergy-limiting module 202, 300, 400 (Step 508) on the return signalline 214, 316, 416. If the received field current is less than athreshold (e.g., 20 mA) (Step 510), the field current is converted to anoutput voltage 210, 320, 420, which is a function of the monitoredparameter (Step 512), and the output voltage 210, 320, 420 is providedto the programmable controller 102 (Step 514). The threshold in severalembodiments depends upon an upper range of current normally drawn by thefield devices 106, 208, 312, 410. For example, if the field devices 106,208, 312, 410 normally draw a maximum of 20 mA, then field currentsabove 20 mA are likely due to a fault situation.

In the event of a fault (e.g., the supply signal line 212, 310, 408 isshorted with the return signal line 214, 316, 416 or the supply signalline 212, 310, 408 is grounded), the field current in the return signalline 214, 316, 416 will rise beyond the threshold (e.g., 20 mA)(Step510), and the temperature controlled current limiter 302, 406 willrestrict the field current with its resistance while releasing thermalenergy (Step 516). As the temperature controlled current limiter 302,406 releases thermal energy, its resistance increases as a function ofthe amount of thermal energy so as to further restrict the fieldcurrent, and hence, the amount of thermal energy generated (Step 518).

As the thermal energy of the temperature controlled current limiter 302,406 decreases, its resistance also decreases (Step 520), and once thefield current is below a threshold (e.g., because the fault condition isno longer present) (Step 522), the output voltage 210, 320, 420 providedto the programmable controller 102 is again a function of a monitoredparameter (Steps 512, 514).

Although the invention herein disclosed has been described by means ofspecific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modificationsand variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention.

1. A method for controlling heating in an industrial process controllerdisposed for operation in an explosive environment, comprising:providing, in the industrial process controller, an electrical circuithaving a plurality of components, where a first of the plurality ofcomponents is selected based at least in part on a characteristic of thefirst of the plurality of components related to a flash point of agaseous component of the explosive environment in which the processcontroller is designed to operate in; and adjusting, in response to atemperature increase in said one of the plurality of components duringoperation of the industrial process controller, a characteristic of theone of the plurality of electrical components so as to limit a peaktemperature increase of the electrical circuit to a value below theflash point of the gaseous component.
 2. The method of claim 1 whereinthe one of a plurality of components comprises a PTC component.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising limiting a current provided to afield device coupled to the industrial process controller.
 4. The methodof claim 28 further comprising limiting a voltage applied across a fielddevice coupled to the industrial process controller.
 5. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: providing a current to a field devicecoupled to the industrial process controller; receiving a current signalfrom the field device; and converting the current signal to a voltagesignal.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the voltage signal is generatedby a resistor coupled between an output of the field device and aV-reference terminal so as to generate the voltage signal to beproportional to the current signal.
 7. An apparatus for use in anindustrial process controller disposed for operation in an explosiveenvironment containing one or more gaseous components, comprising: anelectronic circuit configured for providing a current signal to anindustrial process controller so at to facilitate measurement of aprocess control parameter; and means for adjusting heating in acomponent of the electronic circuit so as to limit a temperate rise peakto a temperature value below a lowest flash point of any gaseouscomponent of the one or more gaseous components.
 8. An energy-limitingmodule for an industrial controller, comprising: first and second signallines disposed to provide a voltage to a field transducer, the fieldtransducer being associated with a process parameter; atemperature-dependent limiter coupled between a supply voltage and thefirst signal line, the temperature-dependent limiter being configured tolimit thermal energy in the module to a temperature below the flashtemperature of any gaseous component of an operating environment theindustrial controller is configured to operate in, in the event of afault; a voltage limiter coupled to the first signal line so as to limitthe voltage provided to the field transducer; and a current to voltagetranslator coupled to the second signal line, wherein the current tovoltage translator is configured with a resistor coupled between thefield transducer and a V-reference terminal so as to generate an outputvoltage signal proportional to a field current provided from the fieldtransducer.
 9. The module of claim 8, further comprising a processorcoupled to an output of the field transducer and an actuator coupled tothe processor, wherein the processor is disposed to provide a controlsignal to the actuator responsive to an output of the field transducer.10. The module of claim 8 wherein the transducer is selected from agroup consisting of a temperature transducer, a pressure transducer anda flow transducer.